Time for the penultimate chapter of this story.
Save the World… With Imagination!
Lena blinked in confusion at the purple dragon in a yellow sweater floating in front of her. Yes, floating, not using his wings to fly, but actually floating around her head.
"Uh, who the heck are you?" she asked.
"I'm Figment!" the dragon cheered, confetti flying out behind him as he did so. "I was created by the Dreamfinder as his imaginary friend, but through the power of Imagination, I became a real friend!"
"Great, another 'Power of Friendship' thing," Lena muttered. "Look, Figment, you kind of remind me of a friend of mine, but right now I'd rather focus on getting out of… wherever we are." She stood up and looked around the inky black void. "Wherever that is right now."
"We're inside the Phantom Blot," Figment said, head drooping. "That CLU fella supercharged the Blot, giving him the power to turn the whole world I created into an inky mess!"
Lena's head turned quickly. "You're the one who merged all the worlds together?"
Figment shrugged. "Well, it wasn't easy, but with how strong Mickey's Imagination is, with a little bit of Wishing Star magic, I created this world no problem!"
"… and now I have a headache," Lena groaned. "Wait, if the Blot took over everything, why am I still around?"
"Well, you were the first person I found here, but you were all shadowy before I used my magic," Figment explained.
"Huh, for once being a shadow had its advantages," Lena chuckled darkly. "Well, if you created this world, then you should be able to restore it, right?"
Figment looked sad again. "Well, after I granted Mickey's wish that took a lot out of me, so rested in the castle. Next thing I know, there's people outside trying to break in and take the Blot, which I specifically locked up so that this wouldn't happen! Now the Blot's so powerful that even I can't stop him…"
Lena tapped Figment on the head. "Hey, if your Imagination isn't strong enough, what about if we get all of my friends to help? They must be in here as well, and if I've learned anything, it's that the power of Friendship can get a lot of good done."
The dragon immediately perked up. "That's sounds like a great idea! Let's go!"
[***]
With Lena's shadow magic and Figment's imagination magic, the two managed to navigate their way through the Phantom Blot's form. They avoided the Blotlings inside, sneaking around the corridors until they came across Nick. The fox was stuck in the wall by ink, his eyes closed in slumber.
"Mr. Wilde, can you hear us?" Lena asked.
"Judy… Todd…" Nick muttered, his voice in a trance-like state.
"And he's asleep," the duck moaned. "I'm not gonna have to kiss him to wake him up, am I?"
Figment shook his head. "No, but we will have to use our magic to get him out of there. Something to remind him if what he is." He tapped a claw to his chin. "Dreamfinder was better at situations like this."
As the dragon pondered to himself, Lena grabbed her amulet, magic glowing pink as it wrapped around Nick. Lena pulled as gently as she could, the fox coming out of the wall before falling to the ground.
"Ugh… I feel like I need to take a long, long shower," Nick grumbled. He stood up and looked at Lena, eyed Figment, then looked back at the duck. "I'm guessing that your new friend is behind all this?"
"I was the one trying to stop this from happening!" Figment shouted.
"Nick, we need to find the others in here," Lena said. She looked down at her hand, her fingers having turned to shadow for a moment. "I think the reason I was able to survive the Blot in the first place is because I was made from Magica's shadow."
"Don't know how that relates to an ink monster, but I've decided not to question magic," Nick shrugged. He pulled out his lightsaber, lighting up the dark chamber with a green glow. "Let's get going."
The trio quickly made their way further into the Blot, with Nick's blade of light warding off any approaching Blotlings. The next person they found was Angel, the experiment trapped within a cocoon of ink. Lena's magic and Nick's control of the Force popped the cocoon open, with Angel shaking off any excess ink.
"Thanks guys. It was getting really stuffy in there," Angel said.
Figment went up to her and picked her up, pulling out a book and pen. "Oh my gosh, you're Angel, the intergalactic superstar! Can I have your autograph?"
"Anything for a fan," Angel cooed, signing the book.
"That's three of us," Nick observed. "That leaves Brooklyn, Shenzi, Riku, and Oswald."
Angel jumped to the ground, sniffing at it a bit before her antennae pointed to another hallway. "I smell the gargoyle in that direction!"
The team quickly ran down the path, coming across Brooklyn already fighting off some of the Blotlings, those these ones looked more pixilated, like they came out of an arcade game. Nick rushed in to slice at the enemies, with Angel pulling out a blaster to shoot a few more.
"Nice of you guys to show up," Brooklyn yelled. He grabbed a Blotling and threw it away, Lena zapping it with her amulet. "Riku and Shenzi are already up ahead."
"These guys look different from the ones we saw earlier," Figment hummed, tapping an unconscious Blotling on the head. "Is CLU merging himself with the Blot…?"
"Worry about that later," Lena said. She grabbed the dragon's hand and ran ahead, the others following her as they went further into the monster.
The caves were getting wider as they advanced, with larger and more threatening Blotlings filling the rooms. A distinctive techno sound reverberated through the hallways as they pulsed with orange linework, a sign that CLU was infecting the Blot with his own code.
"Hey, over here!" Shenzi shouted as the team entered the room. The hyena bit into a Blotling with her shadow magic, complimented by Riku striking down the fallen enemies around them.
"Just in time," the Keyblade Master said. "We found Oswald, but he's not in a good state."
Everyone to where the rabbit was, gasping at the way he looked. Oswald was drained off all color, being entirely greyscale as he lay prone on the floor. Figment went over and picked Oswald up, pulling out a stethoscope to listen for a heartbeat. The dragon gave a nod, then tapped Oswald on the head. The rabbit suddenly shot up, looking around at the others in confusion.
"Well, he's breathing now, at least," Shenzi said.
"Doesn't explain why he's black-and-white though," Nick said.
Oswald looked at his body, then mimed towards one of the many caverns in the room. Figment nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. He's saying that the Blot stole his color, so now he's back to his classic cartoon days. And that CLU is down that way."
"Then let's go get him," Riku said, drawing his Keyblade.
The group followed Oswald's directions, the Blotlings getting fiercer and the techno elements becoming more prominent. Once they reached the end of the cave, the room opened into the central chamber, where CLU stood in the middle. His body was fusing with the Blot itself, hands raised upwards as his data disc emitted energy up into the surrounding area.
"So, you all survived the assimilation," CLU said, his voice taking a more distorted tone. "I'll just have to manually override your code, then."
"News flash, loser, we're real people, not data," Lena scowled.
"That is where you're wrong," CLU stated. He moved a hand and summoned Blotlings to attack the heroes. "This world is nothing but an illusion created by that dragon. Once I successfully fused with the Blot, I gained the power to manipulate reality as easy as computer code. Soon I will be the true master of this world, able to make it just as the Users intended and purge out what they don't want."
"I thought that you despised the Users," Riku said, sending out dark fire to burn away the Blotlings.
"Now that I can change their reality, I have no need to exterminate them," CLU said. "Why destroy when you can control?"
"Everyone, I think that disc of his is what's causing this," Angel pointed out.
CLU moved his arms again and tendrils came up out of the floor, wrapping around everyone and bringing them up to him. "I'll be taking the dragon now," CLU said. He reached out and grabbed Figment by the head, orange lines going over the dragon as he cried out in pain.
"Let go of him!" Lena shouted. She tried to reach out with her magic, but the tendrils were crushing her body so that she couldn't focus.
"It is futile to resist," CLU said. "Preparing for the final data acquisition."
"I'm sorry everyone," Figment said. "I shouldn't have brought you all together. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me."
"Figment…" Lena said. She closed her eyes, then looked to the others. "I don't regret what we've done together. Sure we haven't known each other that long but… This sounds so cheesy, but I think we've all become friends."
"Hey, I became a Jedi, my dream as a kid! I would do it all again if I could," Nick said.
"I'd consider all of you a part of my Ohana," Angel said.
"We had a good run, didn't we?" Brooklyn added.
Shenzi shrugged. "I won't say it was all good, but it wasn't horrible either."
"I didn't know you guys before today, so my only regret is that we didn't have more time to be friends," Riku said.
Oswald, despite being unable to talk, nodded in agreement with everyone. Lena looked between her new friends, a familiar feeling sitting in her chest. Her amulet started to glow, the shine becoming brighter before exploding outwards, freeing herself and the others.
"What is this?" CLU shouted, summoning more tendrils to attack.
Lena looked up at the program and held up a hand, a purple shield defending the others. "This is the power that you'll never have. It's something that we have inside of all living creatures: imagination and friendship!"
The glow went over the others, healing them of their injuries and giving Oswald his color back. "I never thought I would miss the sound of my own voice," Oswald gasped. "Now then: CLU, your time is up! Figment, what do you need us to do?"
"If we're going to break his connection to the Blot and reverse this, then you guys need to distract him so that I can get to the disc," the dragon explained.
"Distraction? I have an idea!" Angel gasped. She whispered into the other's ears, getting a nod from the others.
Lena raised her arms in a conductor's stance, then started to use Scout's music magic as Angel sang.
(Song: "Determinate" from Lemonade Mouth)
Angel: Trying hard to fight these tears
I'm crazy worried
Messing with my head this fear
I'm so sorry
"What are you doing?" CLU questioned as Angel continued to sing. He tried to attack them, only to be blocked by Riku and Nick's blades.
Angel: You know you gotta get it out
I can't take it
That's what being friends about
Angel and Lena shared a look, then both smiled as Lena turned up the music, the sound physically blowing the Blotlings back.
Lena: I, I want to cry
I can't deny
Tonight I wanna up and hide
CLU tried to attack Lena directly, but she continued to sing as she dodged the tendrils, throwing magic around as well.
Lena: And get inside
It isn't right
I gotta live in my life
Angel and Lena stood together, their voices raising together as magic portals started to open around the large room.
Lena & Angel: I know I, I know I
I know I gotta do it
I know I, I know I
I know I gotta do it
Soon, many people started coming though the portals, the magic of song pulling them from being trapped in the Blot. CLU scowled and summoned more Blotlings, some of them ink versions of villains and heroes.
All: Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
Push until you can't and then demand more
Determinate, determinate
The main team watched as others, from the Resistance to the Avengers, the Twilight Bark to the Lion Guard, everyone was here to save their world. They nodded to each other and rushed at CLU, ready to grab his disc and stop the Blot.
All: You and me together, we can make it better
Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
"Shenzi, take the next verse!" Lena said, moving the music over to the hyena.
"Sorry, but I don't sing," she replied, using her magic to push past the Blotlings.
"Then I'll help you with it," Nick said, using the Force to jump over to Shenzi.
She rolled her eyes but took the music and went with it.
Shenzi: Hate to feel this way
And waste a day
Nick: I gotta get myself on stage
I shouldn't wait or be afraid
Nick: The chips will fall where they may
"Stop with your incessant singing!" CLU shouted, only to get a blast of web to the face from Spider-Man.
"You've got this guys!" he called as he swung down to the help other heroes.
Shenzi & Nick: I know I, I know I
I know I gotta do it
I know I, I know I
I know I gotta do it
Figment flew around to grab the disc, but CLU took notice and sent flying Blotlings at him. The team went to defend their dragon friend, the music continuing to push back CLU's minions.
All: Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
Push until you can't and then demand more
Determinate, determinate
You and me together, we can make it better
Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
"Riku, Brooklyn, why don't you have the next part," Nick said, sending the music their way.
"Sora did something like this once," Riku said.
"Hey CLU, check out this number!" Brooklyn taunted.
Brooklyn: It's Brook and I'm heaven-sent
Use it like a veteran
Renegade, lemonade, music is my medicine
Go ahead and try to name a band we ain't better than
Reason why the whole world's picking us instead of them
Brooklyn managed to get in a few hits on CLU, knocking him away from the disc and giving Riku time to grab it. The program gave chase as the two fled into the battle going on below them.
Riku: People need a breather cause they're feeling the adrenaline
Stop! Now hurry up and let us in, knock
'Cause we're coming to your house and
People keep on smiling with lemons in their mouth
The two tossed the disc like a football as they raced to where Figment was.
Brooklyn: I'm the real deal, you know how I feel
Why they in it for the mil I'm just in it for the thrill
Riku: Get down now I ain't playin' around put your feet up on the ground
And just make that sound like
"Oswald, catch!" Brooklyn shouted. He chucked the disc over to the rabbit, whom jumped up and caught it.
"Figment, it's time to do your thing!" he said.
All: Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
Push until you can't and then demand more
Determinate, determinate
You and me together, we can make it better
Gotta turn the world into your dance floor
Determinate, determinate
"This is the end for you," CLU said, ink dripping from his body as the Blot fully consumed him. He reached out a hand to Figment, his Blotlings pushing everyone else away.
"Hey loser!" Lena shouted. CLU turned around to see the whole team together, all of them standing in front of their alien friend from back in Tomorrowland.
"Say hello to our big friend," Scout taunted.
All: Come on and, come on and
Come on and get it going
Come on and, come on and
Come on and get it going
On the dance floor
On the dance floor
Dance floor
Determinate
The alien roared and gobbled up CLU in one gulp, the Blotlings all screaming as their master was defeated. Everyone looked to Figment, holding the disc as it turned from orange to a night-sky blue.
"So, what do we do now?" Oswald asked.
"That will be taken care of by us," said a voice. Everyone turned around to see Yen Sid, along with Maleficent, Merlin, Dr. Strange, Rafiki, and a bashful looking Mickey Mouse. "I believe my former apprentice has something to explain to all of us," Yen Sid said, glaring at Mickey as he nervously laughed.
Author's Note
The battle is over! Next chapter will be the last, then it'll be on to new stories for me. I know I wanted to have at least one song in this story for the final battle, and Lemonade Mouth has my favorite D-Com songs, so that's why I chose it.
Tune in next time for a wrap-up and the finale of "Where Dreams Come True!"
Don't forget to leave a review on what you thought of this chapter!